Generally, all outdoor, hunting and other non-collapsible or non-folding knives are stored in a suitable knife sheath when not in use. Typically, the sheaths include a retaining or closure strap that is fixedly attached at a proximal end to one side of a sheath neck. A distal end of the retaining/closure strap is detachably fastenable to an opposing side of the sheath neck. A knife is typically retained in the corresponding sheath by wrapping the retaining/closure strap around a portion of a handle of the knife and fastening the retaining/closure strap distal to the sheath neck.
To withdraw or extract the knife from the sheath, the retaining/closure strap is unfastened, thereby releasing the knife handle and allowing the knife to be withdrawn/extracted. However, although the distal end of the retaining/closure strap is unfastened, the retaining/closure strap generally dangles loosely and remains in the path of the knife blade as the knife is withdrawn/extracted from the sheath. Thus, unless the retaining/closure strap is manually held clear of the knife blade extraction path, the knife blade is subject to cutting through or damaging the retaining/closure strap as the knife is withdrawn/extracted from the sheath.